JCPenney, seemingly a permanent fixture in the news these days, seeks to push past the negative financial and branding headlines and tap into customer experience with their new pop-up shops, which will hopefully garner appeal from designer collaborations. 

The store, which is currently embroiled in a high-stakes trial with Macy's and Martha Stewart over product licenses, has had a rough time since CEO Ron Johnson took over a year ago. The brand's "no markdown" strategy backfired, and word on the street is that employee morale has hit an all-time low at the company's Plano, Texas headquarters. 

However, the company had a moment during the Oscars broadcast. The new campaign, a series of commercials introducing JCP’s latest brand partnerships expanded on last year's rebranding campaign with Ellen DeGeneres. It also boosted activity on Facebook and Twitter, rewarding some followers with gift certificates.

Now, with the success of shop-in-shop brands like Sephora, MNG by Mango, Levi's Denim Bar and Liz Claiborne, the retailer is adding more designers to its in-store boutique lineup and plans to expand to home goods later this spring. Each brand will have their own design aesthetic within their individual shop.

With its in-store designer additions, J.C. Penney joins Target, Macy's (now battling JCP in court over Martha Stewart) and Bloomingdale's as the latest department store to experiment with boutique-style shops. In fact, JCP is stealing from Target's playbook with a new exclusive home goods collection by American architect Michael Graves—Target's first designer partnership, which launched in 1999 and produced a whopping 2,000 items—and Justin Timberlake's William Rast collection, which launched as a Target exclusive in 2010.

Other upcoming JCPenney designer collaborations include in-store boutiques for Happy Chic by Jonathan Adler, Designs by Conran, Watchgear by Tourneau, Carters and Giggles. Here's a look at the in-store boutiques now hitting its stores:Continue reading...

Trying to figure out what’s on sale when and then waiting for the next sale to buy particular items can be frustrating to consumers so J.C. Penney Co. — in its first major overhaul of its retail arm since former Apple exec Ron Johnson took over as CEO in November — is attempting to make things much easier.

The company this week announced that its stores are doing away with having seven kazillion different items on different sales simultaneously and just “marking down all of its merchandise by at least 40% so shoppers will no longer have to wait for a sale to get the lowest prices in its stores.”

The move, including the repositioning commercial above, comes as jcpenney, as the chain rebranded itself at the 2011 Oscars, is re-rebranding with a new logo — following the previous year's rebrand at the 2010 Oscars (check out the logo progression below). What was that about trying to avoid consumer confusion?Continue reading...

It's a funny thing about color. It can lift a mood as much as depress it. Color is so much a part of brand marketing that many consumers may not even think about the impact one color or another has on a purchase decision.

Pantone knows just how important color is in marketing; in fact, the company has built a business around it. Each year, Pantone, which describes itself as "the global authority on color," selects a color of the year — before the year begins — to rally the world's designers around it. In fact, the color is selected based on a poll conducted with designers. Last year's color was the "vibrant, energetic" shade of pink called Honeysuckle; some referred to it as "Mad Men pink."

For 2012, Pantone's pick moves the dail a few clicks hotter, from a warm pink to pure tangerine dream, with the selection of "Tangerine Tango," a citrus-red hue that leans orange than red — although it's certainly red hot, popping up all over the Spring 2012 runway collections during the September Fashion Week shows.Continue reading...

Brands are vying to go green, but maybe they should be thinking pink.

And by pink, we mean the exuberantly retro shade of pink officially known as Pantone 18-2120 TCX, which has just been named the hot color for 2011.

In announcing its next color of the year, Pantone calls it "honeysuckle pink," and a "vibrant, energetic" shade of pink.

Others prefer to call it Mad Men pink.Continue reading...

New York’s famed Garment District, also known as the city's Fashion Center, houses more fashion brand headquarters than London, Milan and Paris combined. 850, to be exact.

All that’s in peril, however, as Manhattan rents soar and developers gobble up midtown real estate for more hotels and condos. NYC landlords are limiting rental leases to one year in anticipation of moving in as the city contemplates rezoning.

A group of high-profile designers including Michael Kors, Anna Sui, Narcisco Rodriguez, Nicole Miller, Nanette Lepore, and Diane von Furstenberg, are lending their clout to support the “Save the Garment Center” movement to keep the fashion industry alive and thriving in New York.

They're banding together to promote the campaign's new website, MadeInMidtown.org (which includes a map of brands in the district), and a temporary pop-up store that just opened at the Port Authority terminal, both designed to show why the industry's health is vital to New York.Continue reading...